The Eugenides Project
by sno-zutto
Summary: Kaizer swore he'd never go back. However, circumstances change when Erina comes looking for him. His one love dead, the other kindapped. Add in a dash of forbidden romance and hushed up secrets all because of the EUGENIDES PROJECT!
1. Chapter 1

The Eugenides Project

**Chapter 1**

It was a spring night gone bad. Cold with scattered thunderstorms. Erina, tired from a very fake social gathering walked wearily in the rain, a black umbrella held above her head. She eventually reached a picturesque boutique. In the window was a puffy light pink dress with a white bow down the horizontal center. She looked at it, and then down at her own formal, long, silk black dress. It would be nice to wear color once in a while. She shook the thought out of her head and walked to the door that had a closed sign clearly labeled on it. She pulled a hair pin from her hair and easily picked the lock. _Ting, _the bell sounded as she walked in. She waited a few seconds, silence. _Must be upstairs_, she thought to herself. As quietly as she could, Erina walked up the spiraling wooden stairs. As she reached the last step she saw a man with some headphones in his ears, working on white ball gown. A bright flash of lightening spread across the sky and made him jump. Then the lights were out. As he turned around, he jumped again when he saw Erina.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you. It's been a while Kaizer."

He looked confused at first, then his face lit up, in a dark way.

"God in heaven, it's Erina isn't it?" He looked around for a moment. Then asked,

"Where's Gina ?"

"Away." Erina replied.

"I'm not getting involved in your game. I quit a two years ago. I'm not coming back. This boutique is all I need."

Erina looked at him desperately, "We need you! It hasn't been as much fun without you anyway."

"I don't care." he replied indignantly.

"At least listen to the report, it might interest you. Otherwise I wouldn't have come." I pulled out a manila envelope with the word Confidential strewn across it in bold red letters. Hesitantly, I handed it to him.

"Don't be angry, think it through." I advised him.

Guardedly, he took the folder and flipped through the contents. The thunder played its cacophony tune as I stood nervously waiting for the reaction I knew would come. 3..2...1...0...-1

"WHAT!"

Close enough.

"Don't be angry," I reminded him, knowing it was a futile attempt. I would be angry if I was him too.

"Erina! You said Gina was away, not DEAD."

"It wasn't a lie," I retorted back. "And read carefully, she's only presumed dead."

"If this is a report coming directly from IRIS, she as good as dead!" He scolded.  
"That why I want you to come with me. Let's go to Italy and search."

"Wait," he said suspiciously, "If you want me to go to Italy with you…that means you think-"

"She's alive," I finished.

"IRIS is never wrong." He said coldly.

"There's a first time for everything Kai. She's definitely alive. She wouldn't die that easy. Not the Gina I know…come with me. Help me find her."

"There's no way IRIS gave you a grant for this trip." He said.

"It's a secret grant," I replied, "friends in high places and all that."

Kaizer looked down at the ground and didn't answer. This was probably a hard thing to swallow.

"It's what MErina would have wanted," I tried coaxing him.

"Don't you dare tell me what MErina would have wanted. You have no right!" he said angrily.

He was completely right, but I still pushed. There was no time for niceness.

"You know it's true, MErina…gave it her all to save Gina. She knew how much you-"

"Stop there Erina. Don't say anything more or I'll call the police for breaking and entering."

The lights turned on again. I saw his pained face and decided to give up for the night.

"I'll come back within two days time. I can't wait longer than that. Here's my number if you need to contact me."

I looked at him and he said nothing. I turned around and slowly walked down

the stairs. I picked up the umbrella and walked out the door. As I walked

down the road, another flash of lightening struck and I looked back on the

Kaizer's boutique. The lights were off. The power must have gone out again.

This was a bad storm indeed, and it would only get worse with time. Turning

around, I quickly continued to walk down the dark, deserted street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The phone rang. I was almost at it too quick. _Is he replying back so soon?_ I thought hopefully. Unfortunately, my hopes were in vein as I heard the voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Where are you, the company is a mess. Get in here and fix it!"

I sighed, this is why I hate good secretaries. Hard to find and even harder to get rid off.

"I'll be there soon."

"How soon?" He pushed.

I looked down at my overly long white t-shirt and frazzled hair in the mirror.

"An hour...and a half."

He paused for a couple seconds and then told me to be sharp shortly before he hung up the phone with a thud.

I pitied him slightly. Must be hard working with a flake like me.

I took a quick shower and towel dried my hair. Maybe it would look fine. On second thought, I tied it up quickly into a messy ponytail. I quickly walked to my closet and looked inside. Why was there never anything to wear out of the billion outfits in side? Finally, I picked a light blue button down collar shirt with thin vertical black stripes and a little shorter than knee-length black skirt. It would do, I guess.

Driving my black Porsche was the only good part of my less than normal life. As I blared my favorite band, Muse, I tried to wonder how Kaizer would answer. Would it be yes? He had loved Gina at one point in his life, deeply. Or would it be no? He loved MErina as well. Eventually I gave up. This was too much to think about for an 18 year old who had never been in love. I had other things to think about that were far more pressing than falling in love at this point in my life. Kaizer would have to make this decision on his own.

I quickly walked up the marble steps of a pencil factory. I walked in and went directly to the door on the left. I pushed my I.D. into the scanner and it verified my personal. It then took a scan of my eye to double check. Before I had even stepped through the door, my secretary was on me. His stood at a tall 5'8'' (four inches taller than me) and jet black hair and contrasting blue eyes. His glasses were falling off as he shook with anger.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"You should really think about contacts you know."

He sneered at me and threw a folder my way. Guess he wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"You need to look at this. Reply to the White House by noon and tell them to cancel the meeting for today. You're too late and there is no way you can make it there on time."

"Aw, come on, I can drive fast." I muttered.

He just glared at me more, "Or you can just call them and cancel. After that you can go give the new inductees the welcome speech. Then you can talk to the black team and figure out what to do about their missing member. You also need to verify the death counts within the last month. It needs to be sent out immediately…TODAY."

I looked at Gerard in disbelief. "You spent a whole hour here waiting for me when you could have done half the stuff on that list!"

"I'm your secretary not your nanny."

I snorted, "Secretary my butt. I'm going to be here all day!"

"That's what normal people do, get used to it." he retorted.

I looked at the stupid white envelope. I really hated new inductees. They were so full of themselves. Like I used to be. I looked up at the ceiling, longingly waiting for a black whole to form and magically swallow me up.

_I miss you so much MErina. You were so much better at this than I ever will be. _After a few moments, I snapped back to reality. No time for unnecessary thoughts. I whipped my cell phone out and pressed 5, speed dial for the White House. You know you're the shit when you've got the White House on speed dial. Not that being the shit meant anything nowadays. Just a whole lot of work that your secretary could do for you but doesn't.

"…and so I welcome you, to this prestigious institution that I, on behalf of the crew, hope you will grow and cultivate your many talents for which you have been selected for. Congratulations and welcome again, to IRIS. "

"Ma'am! A question!"

"Ma'am! What are you're thoughts on-"

I sighed, stupid new inductees.

"Yo, where's the cafeteria?"

I turned my ahead, who dare be so insolent to the president?…I liked him immediately. I could tell who it was instantly by the stares he got from the other freshies. Long brown hair and steely, cold blue eyes. I bet he would get along just fine with Gerard. I pointed to him in and in a stony voice said:

"You, come with me."

He smiled that irritating smile that smart-ass students give a teacher when they know they're right. I wanted to pummel him but he seemed to understand how IRIS worked. It's not about how to be the most organized, or how to get the best accuracy rate in gun practice. It's about survival of the fittest. And if you want to survive, you need to eat. Asking the whereabouts of the cafeteria is really the smartest question you can ever ask.

"Wait, President! I'm hungry as well! Please show me where the cafeteria is too!"

I looked behind me to see a pale girl with fiery red hair following us with her little tail wagging right between her legs. This was going to be interesting.

"Alright, you two follow me. The rest of you will be shown around by Jerry- er Gerard here." I glanced to the corner where he was standing silently. The crowd obediently looked over in the same direction just in time to see Gerard walking down the hall at a brisk pace.

"Now you two, names please," I demanded as I walked them to the cafeteria.

"Cole"

"Brianna, oh but you can just call me Bree!"

"Alright, Cole…Bree…this is the cafeteria. What would you like to eat?"

Without a second glance, Cole walked straight to the dessert area and chose the Boston Crème Pie. He had good taste in food.

"Bree?" I prodded.

"Well, since we have to keep up our stamina up and all, I'll take the steak with a side of celery and peanut butter. I'll also have this vegetable juice and-"

"STOP!" I'd heard more than enough. I called the security guard who was monitoring the café. "Take her down to Gerard and tell him to throw her away. There's no place for someone like her."

"Wait!" She yelled, "You can't do this! I graduated at the top of my class! Who do you think you are! I demand to speak to the president, the manager, someone in charge! You're my age, you have no say!"

This is probably the best part of my job. I whipped on my I.D. in satisfaction:

_President Erina Monroe_

_IRIS agency of protection_

_ID # xxx-xx-xxxx_

She stood there looking at the I.D. in disbelief. I felt so awesome.

Unfortunately, she was feisty and stood her ground with indignity.

"What have I done to get thrown out! I chose a healthy meal that no one better could have chosen! If I don't eat healthy here, then what's the point!"

I rolled my eyes with impatience. Why where they always like this? It's no wonder that the number of inductees who actually stay at IRIS are so low.

"That's the thing about survival of the fittest," I explained, "You gotta appreciate what little happiness you can get your hands on. If it's this yummy piece of Pie, then so be it. If you can't understand that, then we don't need you here at IRIS. As if right on cue, Gerard stepped in and took a hold of her arm.

"President?"

"Another dunce," I explained.

He shook his head in disbelief, the way he always does when he's annoyed.

"There wasn't a single one of them with a back bone." He reported.

"Fortunately, we've got one at least." I replied, looking over at Cole. He looked so uncomfortable. Poor kid, I totally just singled him out. I then turned back to Gerard. "Take her away." Then, turning my attention back to Cole, I said, "How about that Boston Crème Pie?"

He smiled and grabbed two plates.

"I like the Tiramisu" I informed him, "remember that."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"President"

I ignored him.

"President Erina!"

I ignored him more. Pissing Jerry of was so much fun.

"PRESIDENT I KNOW YOU CAN HERE ME!"

" Did you say something Gerard?" I turned around, casual-like.

_ "Ahem_," he cleared his throat. Jerry always did that when he was dissatisfied. " Who is this kid, President?"

"Ahh, you know, my replacement for the next month."

"PRESIDENT! You never said anything about being gone! Do you know how much trouble that would be? Why? Why? Wouldn't you tell me earlier? Why are you going?" Jerry freaked.

"Oh calm down Gerard, it's not a big deal. My grandmother is on her deathbed and I think I should be there for…when you know…" I made my eyes all glazy.

He looked away, sort of embarrassed and unbelieving.

"You're not lying to me are you, President?"

"Of course not! How could you think that! Would I lie about my dying grandmother!" I said melodramatically, wiping a non-existent tear from my eye.

"But why him President…wasn't he inducted? Why not put someone else in charge? Someone with experience."

"Oh hush," I said, starting to get irritated, "It's only for a month and he's overly qualified, trust me."

"But Pres-"

"Or do you not trust my judgment? The all-powerful president of the IRIS."

"It's not that Pres-"

"Well then that's settled Gerard, oh and stop calling me President all the time. I have a name A-N-J-U Erina! Use it sometimes. I promise you won't wear it out."

I quickly turned to Cole, standing quietly behind me.

"Cole, this is Gerard," then after a short pause, "you can just call him Jerry sometimes, just to piss him off," I whispered.

He smiled at me slightly amused at the expense of my secretary.

The two of us scuffled into my private room, I poured some after-lunch coffee and asked him,

"You know the deal right. You understand what a big role you play in this Cole?"

"Crystal clear, President…Erina."

I smirked, at least he was faster than Jerry was at this.

"You have one week to see how I work, ask questions, understand all of IRIS. I know it's asking a lot, but my project must not be put off. It sounds like a lot, but really, the only major problem you should deal with is Gerard. He's the only one who will really get on your back about anything. Otherwise, I would just work at home all the time. Avoid his questions, don't tell him anything about where I am or what I'm doing. I may have to contact you sometimes, for information purposes. Now Cole, this is VERY important. Can I trust you? You won't betray me right?"

He stared up at me with those steely, confident eyes of his. I knew he could be trusted. At least, more than anyone else here at Iris.

"Alright, Mr. Co-President, let's get going. You have a lot to learn in the next week. As we walked through the first corridor outside of my private office, I quickly pulled my phone out. Still no messages.

"This is the weapon room. If you don't remember anything of this tour, at least remember where it is. It'll be your best friend."

"Best friend?"

"Iris isn't completely without enemies. I'm sure there are spies here, there have to be. Make sure you never ever give the key to anyone. Not even Jerry."

"I understand." he took the key from my hand and put it around his own neck. After a second though, he tucked it under his collar. Out of site, out of mind.

I smiled. As we walked back to my own quarters, Jerry approached us again.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, but the girl named Bree won't leave Iris boundaries? Shall I order a unite to take her away?

"Oh Gerard, don't be so melodramatic. What is she saying?"

"Er, well, she wants another shot at Iris," he said nervously.

I looked at Cole and smiled. Then in my most chocolate coated voice, I said,

"Cole, I have to go for a 2 week meeting in Japan, would you be a dear and keep Bree under your wing? She seems clumsy so don't let her out of your site. There are enemies even in IRIS you know."

"I understand! Leave it to me President!" Cole replied in a most newbie subordinate manor. I smothered a laugh at this new side of Cole.

"Ah, by the way Gerard," I suddenly mentioned, " You know I'll be gone for around two weeks…might even be more…who knows."

"Yes, what would you like me to do while you are gone?" he asked.

"Well I was getting to that," I replied. "Meet Your new boss" I gestured towards the person beside me. "Cole Erehart."(pronounced Ire-3)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Stunned, "President, you can't be serious, he's… Fresh!"

"Oh, but I'm very serious Gerard, he is highly capable. Probably more so than me!"

"President don't say those things! Take responsibility, you're in charge here!" Yelled Jerry.

"Oh, hush," I said calmly, "I'll be back within a month.

"What kind of conference is this again?" he asked suspiciously, "I mean, how can you not know how long it takes."

"It depends on how well negotiations go." I said smoothly.

Jerry sighed, he could never win against me in this kind of situation. "Now if you excuse me, it's getting late and I have a dinner appointment at 8. Goodbye Gerard."

He fumed angrily and walked out of the room. Shrugging it of, I turned my attention towards Cole.

"Mr. Erehart, take care of this office." I then whispered to him, "you have my personal number, but on no circumstances must you tell anyone about it. As far as they know, I am virtually unreachable. Furthermore, when I give you directions, you follow them. Do you understand me?"

"Crystal clear President."

"Wonderful, I'll see you in a month."

"Will it really take a month…whatever your doing."

I sighed uncomfortably, I didn't like talking about this part. "What I'm doing…may be more dangerous than you can fathom. I still can't tell you what it is…but I will most likely not come back uninjured. It will take time to recuperate."

"President…if there's anything you need, please contact me. I may be a newbie, but…it's always the newbies who break the rules. So it's okay."

I smiled, "I know, thank you. When I come back, I'll train you better…help you specialize in something, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it President Erina."

"Terminal 44...terminal 44...ah here we go." I said to myself. I looked around and let out small sigh. He still hadn't called and it was half an hour till take off. Irritated, I walked over to the closest starbucks stand and ordered a caramel macchiato. We boarded the plane 15 minutes later. I kept on waiting for the seat next to me to be occupied, but to no avail. Finally after an hour of waiting for the plane to take off, the passengers, including myself, started to get slightly restless and irritated.

"Who's the dumb-ass holding this flight up!" I stood up and yelled.

"I'd like to have-" I stopped mid-sentence

"That would be me." A man with golden blonde hair came to sit next to me. He awkwardly sat down, trying to fit into the slightly too small seat that did not suit his burly body.

All I could say was,"About time you got here Kaizer."

"Sorry to keep you waiting milady"

"Why didn't you call me, I thought you weren't coming."

"Guess I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

What a liar, I bet he hadn't decided till the last minute. I didn't mention it though, I was more than happy that he was here. With him on my side, a lot of things changed. For one thing, I would not be alone on this trip. Brave as I was, ( or pretended to be) I was still only 18 years old. Having an adult of significant stature calmed me slightly. I could rely on him. I trusted him.

"So why Japan?"

"I'm sorry what?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Wow, this is going to be a long mission," he joked, "so why Japan?"

"Mmm, well I don't think she's there…but it might have clues…about her whereabouts. I only have one lead and it's a man named Rito Matsura. He told Gina's family a couple months back that he had seen her. They presume she is dead, but they told me anyway. Though, for some reason, I lost contact with Rito. Gina's parents say that he just…you know, poofed!" It worries me. They would do anything to find their daughter, yet, suddenly all connections with me were cut off. Something isn't right. And if we solve this mystery, we may be able to be one step closer to finding Gina."

"I didn't really want to bother about the details at that time. Would it have mattered anyway…the details? We still would have left today. You still would have come."

"Don't make statements like that."

"It was a question." I said.

"It definitely was not."

"Who's keeping track anyway." I said, waving us off the subject. He and I both knew I was right anyway.

"So what's the first step when we reach Japan?" He asked.

"Well, we'll probably go the Japanese Iris there. I'll have Cole open the doors to JIRIS so we can get aces to the weapon vault and-"  
"Who the hell is Cole?"

"Umm if we ever make it back alive to IRIS, I'll introduce the two of you. He's quite fun to be around."

"That's a nice thought."

"It really is, you see, Cole-"

"No I mean the 'if we get out alive' part." he said snidely.

"It's the truth." I replied back lamely.

"About death or about Cole?"

"Uhhh"

"You mean death right?"

"I think so-wait no"

"You meant Cole?"

Frustrated I gave him the meanest glare I could muster. I then told him to forget it and turned my body towards the window. I needed to sleep. If I didn't, this would be a long, agonizing flight. At first I thought it wouldn't come, but I was stressed and tired, it easily overtook me.

"Maria! How do you stand that guy? Seriously."

A song like laughter came from the brunette's mouth. Here green eyes sparkled with the knowing and wisdom of a thousand years.

"When you find someone who is right for you, you'll understand how I stand him Erina."

"I don't think I ever will." I replied back haughtily.

"You're only 15 Erina, I hardly expect you to find love right now."

"You're only 21, Maria." I replied back.

"Well there's no limit to love, really. You could find it when your 18...you could find it when your 60. It wouldn't matter."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" I asked.

"Hmm we seemed to have gotten off track somehow."

"Like always."

"Yes, like always. My point is that even you don't see the good points in Kaizer, I do. Because I love him, I always see the good points in him. Even if no one else does. So please, Erina, for me, try to get along with him."

"Fine…I won't pick a fight with him anymore…but if he starts it-"

She laughed that melodious laugh again.  
"If he starts it, I will definitely be on your side Erina!"

"Erina!"

"Erina!, Erina"

"What now Maria?" I asked sleepily.

My eyes opened and vision blurred into my eyes.

"I saw Kaizer's face. He looked calm, but I could see the real sadness

behind his eyes. I immediately regretted saying her name. This trip must have been hard enough for him without me reminding him of his deceased wife.

"We're at the halfway point. We need to get off and switch planes."

"We're in Amsterdam already?" I asked, amazed.

"Yep, you slept a good 10 hours straight. I tried to wake you for lunch, but you wouldn't stir. So I just left you."

Wow, I was more tired than I had thought. What with getting IRIS ready to continue without me, getting Cole prepared, making other arrangements. I really was exhausted. It was at that moment that I realized how hungry I was too.

"Alright, let's get off this plane and get to a subway. I'm starved."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

We had a good 6 hours to waste in Amsterdam before our next flight. First we tried playing cards, but I easily got annoyed at how he always beat me at any game we played. Eventually I found myself picking up a book from a nearby bookstore. _Vampire Academy_. About a damphir who falls in love with someone who she should not, could not. Perfect, I thought. This will be just stupid enough to rot my brain. I went to go purchase it at the counter. I picked up some lindour truffles from a chocolate box near the cash register. Chocolate was always a good pick-me-up, no matter what the situation. As I got back, Kaizer just looked at me. "What is _that_?" he said, looking at the book.

"Exactly, what it looks like."

"A trashy vampire novel?"

"Actually, it's a trashy _damphir _novel, but I'm sure it's got some vampires too."

"Why are you going to read it?"

"So I can rot my brain."

"I don't understand you." He said, shaking his head.

I smiled, "why is it such a surprise to you?"

"I always saw you as a more, I don't know Iris Johansen fan."

"Psht, I have enough murder and mystery in my life. Right now, what I want is to get away from that.

"So you're going to do that by…reading a vampire novel?"

"It's a _damphir_ novel!" I said exasperated, "and yes, that is exactly how I'm going to do it."

At this point, kaizer was apparently tired of insulting me and decided to take a nap while I mused myself with _Vampire Academy_.

"Passengers, at this time we ask that you please turn of all electrical devices and fasten your seatbelt. The flight will take of momentarily."

"And now if French! I said happily, getting ready to mimic the woman on speakerphone.

"Les passagers, en ce moment, nous demandons que vous s'il vous plaît tour de tous les appareils électriques et attachez votre ceinture. Le vol aura des momentanément."

"Why are you so happy?" Kaizer asked.

"Why are you always such a downer?" I retorted back.

Truth be told, I was pretty happy. My book had turned better than expected. True, it was still a trashy novel, but it was a _good _trashy novel. All about friendship, forbidden love, all that good stuff. Stuff I would never get a change to explore.

"So how do we know who we can trust at the Japanese IRIS base?"

"Huh?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts.

With a more than impatient sigh, Kaizer repeated the question.

"Um, well, once I get there, we should be meeting someone named Eiji."

"How do you know Eiji?"

"Umm, we went on a couple missions together back in the day when…well back in the day, you know." I didn't want to say it. Back in the day when MErina was alive and I was care-free.

Kaizer nodded, understanding with pain in his eyes.

The rest of the flight was pretty silent. I finished book within an hour and then slept the rest of the way.

When I woke up, Kaizer was staring into space, not sleeping or anything, just staring. The flight landed about an hour later.

"I'll go get our luggage. You hail a taxi," he ordered. I'll meet you at exit 5.

"Sure." As I was walked, I wondered how this story would end. Would we find Gina? I sure hoped so. And if we did, what would Kaizer do? Would they get back together. I desperately wanted them too. After so much suffering, they deserved a happy ending. MErina would have wanted it.

"Hotel shinsei" I told the cab driver as I got in. At the same time, a little part of me, was jealous, wanted them to continue being single with me. I didn't have time for a relationship. I was all work, work, work. It wasn't really fair- I quickly stopped my thoughts. No, no, I chided myself. That's not right. They are good friends, who would go to the ends of the Earth to help you, just as you'd do for them. If they decided to get back together, I _would _be happy for them. _wholeheartedly_.

"Here you are ma'am," the cab driver said with a heavy accent.

"Thank you," I paid and got out. It was a nice hotel. It's foreign grandeur amazed me. Laying before me was a huge pool of water, it was at least 90 feet long. The hotel itself looked somewhat like an imperial palace. It had a slanted gold roof with white walls. It was huge and had pillars every couple yards supporting parts of the roof that were not attached to the building, but instead slopped off the building creating a perfect shady spot in case a vacationer wanted to sit in the shady and watch the rains fall in monsoon season, or the cherry blossoms fly in spring. A little golf cart came up and offered to take my bags and ride me to the front of the hotel. Apparently was at the back.

"SHIT." I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I had forgotten about Kaizer. He didn't even know which hotel we were staying at. Double shit. I would have called him, but my phone was in my carry-on luggage, which was also with Kaizer. Triple shit.

I quickly rushed back to the streets and hailed another cab. I quickly got in and ordered the old cab driver to take me to Tokyo airport. About 10 minutes into the ride, he suddenly stopped.

"WHAT?" I asked him

"Road closu. Accidento." He said with a thick accent.

_Shit _was rapidly becoming the word of the day.

"What do I do now?" I demanded of him.

He shrugged his shoulders and pointed me out the door. He was so not getting a tip.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Well, this was not good. Fortunately, the cab had dropped me outside a café. Unfortunately, it was a very expensive café that would only let me use their phone if I bought something. I sighed in frustration. I had only so much cash in my wallet and most of it had been used up on the cab fairs. Japan was a very expensive country. I hadn't had time to go to a conversion station yet to get more. I was walking about to turn away from the main counter when someone grabbed my hand.

"Excuse me!" I said in my most menacing voice.

"Hey! Calm down, calm down, I wouldn't speak like that too someone who is doing you a favor."

I turned to look at the person standing behind me. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "What-" I saw it, he was holding out his cell phone.

"Oh, thank you!" I said happily.

His laughter was pleasant. Not too loud, but not too soft; a harmonious laugh. "You change attitude pretty quickly, don't you?"

"I'm really sorry, please let me borrow your phone." I looked at him pleadingly.

He chuckled again. "How can I say know to that?" He handed over his cell phone. Luckily I had Kaizer's number memorized. I punched it in quickly and waited. He picked up swiftly after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Kaizer, I'm sorry!" I wailed. "I was being completely absent minded and I-"

"Ugh forget the excuses Erina, just tell me the name of the hotel already. I want to sleep." He said, highly irritated.

"Ah, right, um…sorry." I quickly told him the address and phone number. "Ah," I remembered, "I know you're tired, but as soon as you're there, can you go to the money conversion machine at the hotel. I know they have one in the lobby. Pull out at least $15,000."

"Crap, that's a lot."

"Well, yea we need it."

"IRIS isn't going to be happy you're secretly taking money from their storages."

"It's my hard earned money, I did NOT steal!" I said, highly offended.

"Hmm is that so…well alright. Where are you?"

"Uhhh, out to lunch. I won't be back for a while, traffic is crazy here."

"Right," he said unbelievingly but satisfied. "See you later then." He hung up.

Great, he was still mad at me about stranding him at the airport. Then again, I would have been the same way. I turned back to the man who had lent me his phone. "Thank you so much." I was slowly walking out the door, the bell rang above my head, signaling my exit.

"Lunch huh?"

"Sorry, what?" I asked, looking back the helpful stranger.

"What happened to you having lunch?"

I gave him a soft smile, "I was just lying, my friend was very mad at me so I just said that so I wouldn't have to be back anytime soon."

"Well then how about it, why not have lunch with me? My treat? Plus, you owe me a favor…and I kind of don't want to look pathetic eating by myself at a nice café like this."

My smile grew wider, "Why not, I always pay of my debts."

"The food here is really very good. I suggest the strawberry-banana crepe. It has nutella in it too."

The word nutella totally won me over. "Sold," I said happily. Along with the crepe, I ordered an espresso with a shot of hazel nut in it. The stranger across from me ordered the same except he took black coffee. Impressive, but ick. I hated black coffee.

Nearly as soon as our order was taken, his phone rang. "Ah, excuse me just a minute," he said.

"Sure."

He got up and walked to the corner of the black gate that surrounded the café. Out of the corner of my eye, I took the time to really look the stranger over. He had auburn hair, but slightly more on the brown side than red. His eyes were brown too. His chin was slightly angular but clearly defined. He lips were very defined too. I'm not being creepy in the fan-girl in love with her favorite band member way either, they really were. They were the perfect pink. As he talked on the phone, I saw him smile. His lips curved into a cute lopsided smile. If that was only a half smile, I couldn't wait to see him really beam, it was probably- no, no, no! I chided myself, stop being creepy. To distract myself, I checked out the rest of him. He wasn't super buff or anything, but he definitely had muscles, clearly seen through the somewhat tight, black, V-neck shirt he was wearing. Probably had a six pack too. He wore loose, formal black pants that had obviously been ironed before worn. He was ever so slighty tanned, barely noticeable. He very clearly wasn't Japanese, so where was he from? I wondered.

"Sorry, it took so long, you could have started without me." He said.

"Ah?" I looked down and my food was sitting there, ready to be eaten. I had been so distracted with checking him out that I hadn't noticed.

I quickly recovered, "Ah, well that should be rude. Let's eat together."

He smiled. I was right about his smile too. It was gorgeous and perfectly symmetrical. It fit perfectly on face like his with such defined edges.

"Bon appetite" he said.

He was right, the crepe was delicious. Of course it was, it had nutella.

"So what brings you to Japan?" He asked. "On vacation with your boyfriend?"

"Oh um, definitely not." I replied quickly. "He's a friend, um, we've come to meet another friend.

"Ah, well that's enjoyable."

"Yes, how about- a sorry I don't know your name."

"Ah how stupid, neither of us have introduced ourselves. I'm Adriane. Adriane Nicolaides."

"That's…?"

"Greek. And you, madam?"

"Ah, Erina Monroe?"

"Is that nickname?"

"Ah," I said surprised, "I almost forgot, well it's not my real name, but that's what everyone calls me. My real name is a little long."

"What is it?"

"Katherina."

"Pure one."

"Yes," I said, surprised again, "how did you know?"

" I studied Italian in college. Beautiful name, you should use it more often."

There was an awkward pause. I spied his black bag beside him. I noticed a book in there.

"What are you reading?"

"Hm?"

"In your bag!"

"Um," he said uncomfortably, "you know, just a book, nothing great."

"I know it's a book," I said, laughing, "What's it about?"

He hesitated for a moment, god knows why, maybe he wrote it. Well,

whatever the case, he stopped hesitating and pulled it out.

"Ah, so it's called _The Thief_." I said when I saw it. "What's it about?"

"It's really nothing special," he said, laughing it off looking uncomfortable again.

"Are you the author? Am I having lunch with a famous author? Oh my gosh, I just might die, will you sign my butt?" I asked, trying to alleviate the sudden tension. Luckily, it worked.

He laughed, "No nothing like that, it's just about a man named Eugenides who was the king of thieves."

"Oh, is he really?"

"Well people say it's fictional but," he paused for a long moment. I waited eagerly for his answer. " I believe differently. I think he definitely existed."

I was really interested but he looked so uneasy I decided to change the topic. "Ah well, will you look at the time, it's already been over an hour. I'm sure my friend has calmed down. Thank you for lunch. It was delicious." I got up to leave when he suddenly asked, "What are the chances of us meeting again?"

I paused and thought about it. "Very low, I'm afraid."

"Alright, well then Katherina, if we meet again, will you go on a date with me?"

Hmm that was risky, better buff out the odds. "How about if I see you two more times. We're both tourists, so we may easily see each other again. If I see you two more times, I'll go on a date with you."

"Wonderful," he said, clapping his hands once, "I look forward to it."

I waved goodbye and left. I'd probably never see him again, I thought, a little regrettably. After all, I'm not exactly a tourist. I was about to hail a cab. Sad thing in this world when a cab to your hotel costs less than one meal. Whatever, I had enough for the fare home. I got into the cab and gave the driver directions. After that, I was back in my own little world, thinking about the new friend I had made; someone whom I would unfortunately, probably never see again." I sighed and it started to rain. Even the weather pitied me.


End file.
